~ Researching Russell Co, Kentucky

Monthly Archives: March 2016

I have been working on my “Genealogy Do-Over” and I have been using the opportunity to learn how to use the program Evidentia to help me cull every bit of information from every document. And for the most part, I am enjoying the process. The step that I agonize over is selecting the correct citation template to use, but I’m getting over it.

I sincerely hope that someday there will be an app for the Evidentia program so that I can work on documenting sources on my computer, but add all of the claims while “on the go”. I think that I would enjoy documenting the sources in batches, but adding the claims with my iPad a few at a time while out of town or traveling on an airplane or in the car.

I’ve decided that my group sheets and 5 gen charts will have 1 “main” citation for each piece of basic vital information. I will select the “best” source for the information. For example, if there is a birth certificate for an individual, that would be better than a date of birth given in an obituary or by calculations using a census record.

But, I don’t want to just ignore all of the other sources that I have, so I will create a Bibliography listing all of the sources for each individual. That way, every document or database listing will have a citation, but my groups sheets and 5 gen charts will have the “best” source to prove each point. The Bibliography will be added to the end of each family’s notes. The group sheets and other forms will have the EE short reference note while the Bibliography will have the full reference note.

Of course, as I get further back, there will be times when several pieces of information will need to be combined to come up with a final life event date or location, so I may need to think this through again at that point, but for now, I’m pretty satisfied with my decision. Any time that multiple documents are being used to come up with one fact, I will have to include my analysis and conclusion reasoning within the notes. I’ll be using Evidentia to come up with those pieces.